UPLIFT Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The UPLIFT Act adds a new Internal Revenue Code residential energy expenditures credit. In taxable years when the average Personal Consumption Expenditures index for the 12 months ending December 31 is more than 102 percent of the prior 12-month average, eligible individuals can claim a credit for residential electricity, natural gas, or propane costs paid for their principal residence. The credit is capped at $1,200 for most taxpayers and $2,400 for joint filers and heads of household. It phases out for higher-income taxpayers, requires Treasury and IRS administration, and keeps the credit from being treated as income or resources when determining eligibility for federal means-tested programs. The bill appears to duplicate the same statutory credit language in two amendments, so administrators would need to reconcile the duplicated section text if enacted.
Who Benefits and How
Households paying home electricity, natural gas, or propane bills benefit because the credit directly offsets residential energy costs in inflation-triggered years. Lower-income families benefit because the bill prevents the tax credit from reducing eligibility for federal means-tested benefits. Joint filers and heads of household benefit from the higher $2,400 cap. State benefit administrators benefit from a clear federal instruction not to count the credit as income or resources.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Treasury and IRS tax administrators must define eligible residential energy expenditures, apply the inflation trigger, police income phaseouts, and process claims. Federal taxpayers bear the revenue cost of refundable or nonrefundable credits that reduce receipts. Higher-income households receive reduced or no credit because the bill phases the benefit out by income. Benefit program staff must adjust eligibility systems so the credit is ignored for income and resource tests.
Key Provisions
- Establishes a residential energy expenditures tax credit tied to inflation-triggered taxable years.
- Provides eligible taxpayers a credit for electricity, natural gas, and propane costs at a principal residence.
- Limits the credit to $1,200 for most taxpayers and $2,400 for joint filers and heads of household.
- Requires income-based phaseouts that reduce the credit for higher-income households.
- Protects federal means-tested benefits by excluding the credit from income and resource calculations.
- Requires Treasury and IRS implementation of duplicated statutory credit language.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates an inflation-triggered residential energy expenditures tax credit for electricity, natural gas, and propane bills at a taxpayer primary residence, with caps, income phaseouts, Internal Revenue Service administration, and protections against counting the credit as income for federal means-tested benefits.
Key Policy Areas
Tax, Energy, Consumer Assistance
Primary Purpose
Creates an inflation-triggered residential energy expenditures tax credit for electricity, natural gas, and propane bills at a taxpayer primary residence, with caps, income phaseouts, Internal Revenue Service administration, and protections against counting the credit as income for federal means-tested benefits.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Households paying energy bills
- Lower-income families
- Joint filers
- State benefit administrators
Identified Costs
- Treasury tax administrators
- IRS processing staff
- Federal taxpayers
- Higher-income households
- Benefit program staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. McIver (for herself, Ms. Norton, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Pettersen, …
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Benefit program staff, IRS processing staff, Treasury tax administrators
Joint filers, Taxpayers
Positive-direction: Joint filers
Negative-direction: Taxpayers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "agencies"
- → ['Department of the Treasury', 'Internal Revenue Service']
- "programs"
- → ['Federal means-tested benefit programs']
- "affected_groups"
- → ['Households paying residential energy bills', 'Lower-income families', 'Joint filers', 'Heads of household', 'Federal taxpayers']
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology